The Academy Awards Explained
How the Oscars began and work. From a 15-minute dinner in 1929 to a global broadcast: how the Oscars started, who votes, how the statuette was made and why it matters to stars.
Grace Kelly and Marlon Brando, Oscars 1955: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0
A dinner in 1929
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded in 1927 by leading figures of the film business. Its first awards were handed out at a private dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on 16 May 1929. The winners had been announced months earlier, and the presentation took about 15 minutes.
The silent aviation drama Wings won the top prize, Emil Jannings was the first Best Actor and Janet Gaynor the first Best Actress.
The statuette
MGM art director Cedric Gibbons designed the statuette and sculptor George Stanley modelled it: a stylized figure standing on a reel of film with five spokes, one for each of the Academy's original branches. The nickname Oscar was in use by the 1930s and the Academy adopted it officially in 1939.
Who votes
Academy members vote, and they are film professionals grouped in branches such as actors, directors, writers, editors and cinematographers. In most categories each branch chooses the nominees in its own field, for example actors nominate actors, and then all members can vote for the winners. Best Picture uses a preferential ballot, where voters rank the nominees.
From radio to global television
The ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and first televised in 1953. The show has moved between venues and has been held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood since 2002. The number of Best Picture nominees has changed over time and has been fixed at ten since the 2022 ceremony. The 98th Academy Awards in March 2026 added a brand new category, Best Casting.
Why stars care
An Oscar nomination can raise an actor's fees and open doors to bigger roles, and the words Academy Award winner follow a star for life. Campaigns for votes, known as awards season, now run from the autumn festivals to the ceremony in early spring. For every major record, from Katharine Hepburn's four wins to the most nominated films, see our Oscar records page.
Did you know?
Each Oscar statuette is about 34 centimetres tall. Since 1950 winners have agreed not to sell their statuettes without first offering them back to the Academy for one dollar. Envelopes are prepared by an accounting firm, which counts the ballots in secret, and only a handful of people know the results before the envelopes are opened on stage.
- Grace Kelly and Marlon Brando, Oscars 1955: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0
Text written by Amazing Movie Star.
